~BYUN BAEKHYUN~

 

 

Thirty security cameras. A sea of guards. One painting.

 

I smirked and my lips.

"Adventure time~"

 

I tightened the black leather gloves around my hands before pulling myself up on top of the horizontal pole near the ceiling. Solid ground was atleast 20 meters down.

One slip of the foot, and I would die.

 

I skipped across on the eight-inch wide pole while whistling to the James Bond Theme Song

 

"Dude. Is it me, or do I hear James Bond in here." One guard muttered to another.

"It's just you. Why would anyone sing that in an art museum. Now get back to work and check for any thieves."

 

Thief I was.

And thief they missed.

 

I was past the guard-packed room in no time, landing quietly in the shadows with both feet on the ground. My black shoes, black jacket, and black jeans made me look like part of the wall in the dark, shadowed room.

I started humming to Beast's Shadow as I sneaked down the hallway, towards the painting exhibit.

Footsteps of guards sounded close by, so I leaned against a dark corner until all of them passed by. When I was sure no one was there, I quickly went up to the locked room of the painting exhibit and took out the keys Yoona had successfully copied from the original.

Click. The door unlocked. Ever so silently, I slipped inside the room and closed the door behind me.

 

I took out a flashlight and switched it on.

"Anyone here?~" I sing-songed.

No one answered.

"I'll give you three seconds to show yourself. One." I yawned. "Two." I scrutinized my fingernails. "Three."

A sudden, dark figure shifted to my right. I punched the guy in the nose right when he ran over to me, knocking him out cold. He hadn't even made a single sound.

I clucked my tongue as I moved the unconscious guy to the side and walked towards the one painting in the middle of the room.

"Some museum... Sending one guy to watch Gangnam's most expensive painting."

 

I reached into my backpack and took out a detector, running it across the painting's surface to check for alarms.

Beep. One in the top right corner. I detached it skillfully from the painting without alerting its sensor.

When I had made sure nothing else was on the painting, I quickly swiped it up in my hands and removed it from its usual pedestal. I took a step back, curious of what the painting was of.

I scoffed.

"I came all the way here to steal a piece of cardboard with red and white dots on it. How amazing."

Nevertheless, I firmly grasped it in my arm and ran off to the back exit of the room, met by the cold breeze from outside in the night.

I walked onto the rooftop of the museum building. I could see my breath in the air, creating a white fog each time I breathed.

 

"Finally." I looked at the painting. Mission accomplished. Now all I had to do was inform the others.

With a swift movement, I jumped off the building's edge, down to another building's rooftop. I quickly took out a rope from my backpack and tied it to the painting, throwing the end of the rope down to to the ground.

I looked down. It didn't take long for me to catch sight of Chanyeol waiting for my cue.

With the tied painting in hand, I looked down at Chanyeol and called out the signal.

"I LOVE MANGOES."

Chanyeol threw me a thumbs up and tugged on the rope, leaving me to carefully lower it down to the ground.

Once the painting reached the ground, I jumped down and ran out of the place with Chanyeol, towards the back of the building. The painting was in Chanyeol's hands as we reached a black car parked beneath the dark shadows of the night.

Yoona was waiting for us in the driver's seat.

I opened the trunk and carefully stored the stolen painting in there, making sure to cover it with black bags and blankets.

 

It wasn't until we both got into the car safely when we let out out breaths comfortably.

"GOD. It was COLD outside!" I rubbed my arms.

"Hey, atleast you weren't the one waiting there for THIRTY MINUTES. I was so bored that I even started playing Anipang in the freezing weather!"

Yoona rolled her eyes from the rearview mirror.

"Stop complaining, Park Chan. You didn't even do anything. I gave you the easiest job, just like you were whining your off for."

Chanyeol gave her a look.

"That was NOT an easy job. And how many times do I have to tell you, you forgot the YEOL. Park ChanYEOL. My name has THREE syllables, excuse yourself."

I rolled my eyes at their bickering and looked outside.

"Hey, but where are the others?"

 

As if on cue, the car door opened and in came four panting people.

Sehun slouched down right next to me with a yawn. Before I could say a word to him, he immeditately slipped his hoodie over his head and tightened it before leaning back to the back of his seat, his face covered.

I blinked at the now not-moving figure of Sehun.

"Okay, then. Fine. Nice to see you too. And good night."

 

His peace was quickly interrupted by Krystal shoving him away the other way to squeeze in between him and me. She gave me a bright smile, ignoring Sehun's annoyed groaning.

"Did you get the painting, oppa?" She asked eagerly.

Right when I opened my mouth to answer, Kai stuffed a black plastic bag into my face.

 

"Sorry we're late. We got caught by a few guards just a few meters from here because SOMEONE wanted to stop by the food court and buy a stupid bag of kimpab." He glared at Dasom.

Dasom shrugged, looking the calmest among the four.

"I was hungry."

 

Yoona rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Get in the car before we get caught by more guards, you four. And give me a kimpab while I drive."

 

Just like that, the noisy car ride began.

And just like that, we had finished another client's request.

----------------------------------------------------

~SONG MINHEE~

 

 

The second I walked through my house gates, I knew something was wrong.

 

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

 

I looked around at the empty frontyard, finding everything suspicious. The past few days had been quiet as well, with no bullets and no men in black suits.

This wasn't right. There should be an attack atleast twice a week. And yet, there hadn't been one not even once this week. And it was a Friday.

I felt my hopes involuntarily rise up.

Had they finally decided to stop?! Had they changed their minds?! Had they realized that it was a waste of time chasing after a single girl for so long?!

 

My hopes disappeared as soon as I suddenly heard a rustle behind me.

 

I quickly turned around and flung my backpack at the guy's face, knocking him out temporarily.

I rolled my eyes at the sudden group of men who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Of course."

The CNS would never stop chasing after their targets.

 

I cringed at the haunting thought while making a run for it, zooming throughout the quiet neighborhood with four well-trained men running after me. The sun wasn't all too bright at this time of day, and seriously... This was NOT a good time for these guys to suddenly appear to take my life.

Well, but then again, no time is a good time for someone to take my life.

 

"STOP RIGHT THERE."

I rolled my eyes.

"Why do people say that when they already know I'm OBVIOUSLY not going to stop?!"

 

My legs were used to this running, and I went far for a girl my age and size. But it was nothing compared to the training these guys had been given, and once again, I realized that it was impossible to outrun the CNS.

I panted and slipped into an alley, stopping to catch my breath. The men arrived right behind me in no time, evil smirks on their faces.

 

"Finally... This girl took longer than I thought she would.." One guy muttered with a puff of smoke from his cigarette.

I shot the guy a glare. It did NOT feel good to know that I had a chance of getting killed by a guy like this.

Another one of the guys took a step forward. I took one back.

"Come on, little missy~ Just stay still, and we'll end it quick for you. Don't you even get tired running away from us all your life? Just give up already, and the torture will end.."

I bit my lower lip to keep myself strong. I had to stay alive. Death is something you can't change or escape but the WAY you die is something you can.

And currently, this was not the way I wanted to die. Really.

 

I sighed. Looks like this was going to be another tiring fight.

To the guys' surprise, I swiftly took off my high heel from my left foot and threw it at one of the guy's face.

And ladies and gentlemen, this might seem like a joke, but....

A girl at defense with a heel is not. Pretty.

 

"OWW WHAT IN THE--"

While they were still distracted at my sudden move, I quickly threw a punch at another guy's face with all the strength I had, knocking him over into another guy against the wall.

"Aish, what's wrong with this girl?!" A guy ran over to me with a metal stick in hand. I dodged, making a loud CLANG as the metal hit the brick wall behind me.

"OW MY EARS, KEEP IT DOWN! I HAVE EAR PROBLEMS, YOU IDIOT."

I glanced over at the guy who had just groaned in pain, watching him crouch down and cover his ears.

One of the guys has ear problems?! What was this, my late birthday present?!

 

The alley was a big ruckus, sounding of loud metal clangs, men's pissed off shouts, and a guy with ear problems contantly yelling 'KEEP IT DOWN!'. I focused in the midst of it, and took off my other heel to throw it at the first guy I saw.

CLACK.

"AWW, GOD, I'M THE SAME GUY YOU THREW THIS AT BEFORE!"

"Oops, sorry."

With a last kick at the metal stick guy flailing his arms dangerously, I quickly slipped away from the now too weak to stand up men groaning in pain, clutching my backpack and panting.

 

It was until I was in the other side of the city when I started to walk again.

The sky was getting dark, and I was pitifully barefoot with two broken heels in my hands. I ddin't have to look to see that there was a nasty bruise on the side of my right arm, having gotten hit from the metal stick after dodging too late.

Dragging my bare feet down to my house, I sighed as I opened the door to enter the quiet, empty house. This was one of those moments when you wished to have a good, warm boyfriend to welcome you in with home-made dinner.

 

I gulped down instant ramen and coke while watching Runningman by myself.

 

The bruise was purple when I finally decided to check it, and it wasn't something I could treat well anyway.

"Aish... Stupid CNS...."

With the fiftieth sigh of the day, I simply bandaged it and slouched back onto the couch lazily, surfing the different channels there were on TV.

 

"And.... he... SCORES! NUMBER 39 SHOOTS A GOA--" Click.

"WHAT?! You're... YOU'RE NOT MY FATHER?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME--" Click.

"So get your delicious beef set for only ten ninety-nine before we run out--"  Click.

"It has been reported that a famous painting from the Hyunsik Art Museum in Gangnam has been stolen yesterday at 9:30 P.M."

I stopped with my eyes glued to the screen, the remote control still frozen in hand.

"The security cameras and CCTVs show no sign of having recorded the crime when it took place. The only fingerprints that were found by the police were smudges from guards, who all are proven to have been at at different place that time."

The screen changed to the painting.

I scoffed.

"Why are these people getting all hysterical about a paper with red and white dots all over it.."

"This painting has been known to be the most expensive painting in Gangnam and most of Seoul. With the large security system and the difficult alarm system behind it, it is being assumed that this was another work done by The Thieves yet again."

I blinked.

... The Thieves?

"Who're the Thieves?" I asked out loud.

"The Thieves are a hidden group of an assumption eight members in total, and are being suspected for many crimes that have been recorded to have been done in similar ways by simliar people. The age, genders, and names of The Thieves are yet to be discovered. So far, the police have only a theory of The Thieves' existence, which seizes to interest us all in who they exactly are."

I turned off the TV.

 

"... The Thieves.... huh..."

 

Because then, right there, while the TV reporter had been saying that sentence...

I had formed a plan.